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Overall I had a great time at my first rally. Lots of interesting seminars and vendors.

However, I did find it odd that lots of folks in the MOA and BMWNA talk about attracting a younger demographic - and yet the only model made available for demo rides is aimed squarely at the over 50 market.

I was hoping to ride a 1000 RR.

Amen to that!! I live near 3 BMW dealers. Yet, I had hoped to get to ride some of the new, smaller BMWs with my friends and compare notes afterwards. I am simply not interested in the latest BMW version of a Goldwing. No matter how "awesome" it may be. Funny thing is that I am over 50, and the GT does NOT make my heart flutter.

P

Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.
R1150R Rockster, Limited Edition!

We had a great time, enjoyed the bands, enjoyed seeing folks I've met at other events, and enjoyed the overall venue. The site seemed larger/more spread out than Johnson City, maybe because of the lower attendance, but with the camping in the outer lot, we had plenty of room. Even with the lower numbers, the lines got pretty long at the showers, seems an extra trailer or 2 would have been handy. Not sure what they cost to rent, but had another 3000 showed up as was expected, it would have beed rediculous.

The map in the book didn't really show what was happening where, might be nice to have a legend that is easier to read/find. We never did see the Farmer's Market, though I thought we pretty much wandered through the whole venue.

Any other concerns I had were already discussed. I appreciate the work that so many members put into our "Family Reunion"! A friend of mine who recently went from a HD to a '08 K1200GT is a new member and came along with us, his first MOA rally. He was impressed with the kindness showen by most everyone throughout the weekend, in spite of the heat (up until the closing ceremony). He has been to several HD related events where fights break out, etc.

Not sure I'll get out to Missouri, not because of anything negative this past weekend, just limited vacation time and money.

Overall I had a great time at my first rally. Lots of interesting seminars and vendors.

However, I did find it odd that lots of folks in the MOA and BMWNA talk about attracting a younger demographic - and yet the only model made available for demo rides is aimed squarely at the over 50 market.

I was hoping to ride a 1000 RR.

Fantastic! I was struck by the positive attitude i saw everywhere at the rally as people made the best of a HOT situation. Glad you were in the majority!

As to BMW's choice of bikes, that was out of the MOA's control. We appreciate their support for our rally but they make those expensive decisions themselves.

We've been urged to take an S1000RR demo bike for a ride at at least three different dealerships. I expect you'll find your closest dealer has one for you.

The only thing I could not find in the program was a list of vendors. That would have helped us at a glance to see if a specific item or company was at the Rally. I was looking for someone that had "The Spot" available to look at and get some info on it.

Ya it was hot but aren't motorcyclists used to dealing with the elements and diverse weather conditions anyway? It is an outdoor sport after all.

Overall I had a great time at my first rally. Lots of interesting seminars and vendors.

However, I did find it odd that lots of folks in the MOA and BMWNA talk about attracting a younger demographic - and yet the only model made available for demo rides is aimed squarely at the over 50 market.

I was hoping to ride a 1000 RR.

I don't recall even seeing a 1000 RR ridden to the rally.

'You can say what you want about the South, but I almost never hear of anyone wanting to retire to the North.

I was unable to attend the rally this year. After packing my bike I discovered a big nail in the rear tire and was unable to find a replacement tire in time to go.

However I have been attending MOA rallies since 1989 and I would like to add a couple of comments about the comments here.

1. The weather: honestly I thought the choice of central PA was a pretty well educated guess as far as the weather goes, and I can't fault the organizers on that. As for having it in a "cooler" part of the country, the heat index in Moorhead Minnesota on July 20 was 134F. You just can't outguess the weather 18 months ahead of time.

2. Closing ceremonies: over the years, the number of generous vendors donating awesome door prizes has increased. And as a consequence, MOA has been obligated to give each donor a few minutes of stage time for deserved, self-aggrandizing, pointless chit chat at the ceremonies - a necessary evil I suppose. At the older rallies there wasn't much in the way of prizes, but more rider accomplishments were mentioned - most states to the rally, longest ride, oldest dude and dudette, and on and on thru many combinations. From a pure entertainment standpoint, I think I enjoyed the Charleston ceremonies the most. It was in air conditioned splendor, but the sound system did not work and people started yelling and booing simply because they couldn't hear a thing. The MC was a bit thin-skinned for the job - he didn't realize why people were booing and he got a little short with the crowd, which only fed the fire. The TN ceremonies were long and boring, but well worth it for the aerobatic airplane display, which is a bit more upmarket than flaming cars.

Maybe the key to shortening the closing ceremony at the rally is to make a t-shirt with the names of all the donating sponsors on the back like they do at running races.

3. Music: obviously, everyone's taste is different, but I have never heard a band at a rally that struck me as anything more than average. As far as I am concerned, I would rather MOA spent the money on giving away another restored BMW instead of obligatorily hiring a band.

And even though I did not make it this year, I would like to thank all of the volunteers for their hard work under difficult conditions.

Pros: No one could have predicted the weather, so I made the best of it with friends I like to be around.

CONS: BMW MOA NATIONAL RALLY HAS NO BUSINESS offering the gay, lesbian, transexual, bisexual community a platform of performance at the national rally. (LGTB or was it LGBT?) printed in our rally handbook for a forum in in the arena. That was what it was, wasn't it? That was what everyone around our camp space said the LGBT was, and there were many who were peeved that MOA would sponsor this.

CONS: BMW MOA NATIONAL RALLY HAS NO BUSINESS offering the gay, lesbian, transexual, bisexual community a platform of performance at the national rally. (LGTB or was it LGBT?) printed in our rally handbook for a forum in in the arena. That was what it was, wasn't it? That was what everyone around our camp space said the LGBT was, and there were many who were peeved that MOA would sponsor this.

Perhaps they should have scheduled a bigots' meeting at the same time.

For me, the most distressing part of the rally was to hear so many people in the crowd booing Vance, during the closing ceremony.

What many of you probably do not realize is that Vance was working from sunrise til way past dark every day of that rally, handling "Logistics" with Stan Herman. They arrived on Sunday and didn't leave until the following Sunday. These two were running ragged, handling so many vital facets that I am not sure how they managed it.

And so, from my perspective ... there was Vance, just doing his damnedest to make it a better, safer event for everyone... and he was booed while he was trying to emcee the closing ceremony. He had no control over the content and who was going to speak and how long they were going to talk ...

What a great way to discourage a phenomenal volunteer.

Sue Rihn #43753
BMW MOA Ambassador
It's Billings in 2015! #BeTheAdventureSometimes it's the bend in the road that makes life worth the ride.

CONS: BMW MOA NATIONAL RALLY HAS NO BUSINESS offering the gay, lesbian, transexual, bisexual community a platform of performance at the national rally. (LGTB or was it LGBT?) printed in our rally handbook for a forum in in the arena. That was what it was, wasn't it? That was what everyone around our camp space said the LGBT was, and there were many who were peeved that MOA would sponsor this.

Don't even bother wasting your time. I've been trying to get the religious nuts banned for over two decades but they still keep letting them in, even giving them space to practice their weird rituals. Creeps me out even knowing they are around, that anyone could be one of them. But what are you going to do? I just keep an eye out for them and if I see someone that has "that look" well I just turn and go the other direction. There is just no place for that kind at our rallies.